Tuesday 24th - Wednesday 25th April

This race was a lot of firsts. The first time we had ever rowed in a double together. The first time Anna had gone above rate 24 in a sculling boat. The first time I’d steered a 2x at race pace on the Cam.

Conditions were what Gripper described as “challenging” and we knew that we were racing the winners of last year’s 2x race, so decided that a reasonable aim would be to enjoy the race and (in my case) not crash.

Despite a shaky start and an… unconventional approach to the racing line, we had some good moments (the boat was almost sat at one point!), but in the end the other crew were just faster.

Anyway, we survived, somehow didn’t crash and had fun (despite the terrible headwind), and this was definitely a good learning experience for both of us.